Sakura Haruno, The Cherry Blossom of Spring
by Pochi Saku-Hime
Summary: Sakura has been feeling empty since the Land of Waves mission. She has been having nightmares and grew mature. No more Sasuke-kun? No more hitting Naruto? What's wrong, Sakura? Slightly AU
1. The Beginning

Sakura looked at the sight and grimaced. Through the fog, she saw the young anbu boy with Kakashi's bloody fist through his chest. The lightning chakra disappeared as quickly as it came and the thickness of the fog seemed to come back, although not as thick as before. She heard people talking. Looking back at Tazuna, she frowned, "Do you think..." She stopped, thinking her question was stupid. _'Do you think he's dead?'_

"Think he's dead?" Tazuna actually finished her question. "Most likely..."

Sakura's frown deepened. Her first big mission and she already saw death. Even if it was the enemy, it struck hard. Through the fog, which was becoming lighter and lighter, Sakura saw Zabuza run towards Kakashi, sword at ready.

"Kakashi-sensei!" She yelled out as he struggled to get the boy out of his arm.

"I really did find a treasure in that gutter... And to think-" Zabuza began to yell, but Sakura didn't listen anymore. She ran forward, not thinking. Way ahead, she noticed Naruto doing the same.

"Sakura!" Tazuna exclaimed loudly, surprised. He reached out and began to run after her. But he didn't have to because at the moment Zabuza swung and Kakashi wrapped his arm around the boy and jumped.

"Naruto, Sakura... Stay out of this!" There was a pause as both Naruto and Sakura stopped, then, "This is my fight." Kakashi put down Haku, his name now known as Zabuza said something about him to Kakashi, and closed his eyes. Haku was dead.

"N... Naruto! Your okay!" Sakura smiled. "But... What about Sasuke? Naruto! Where's Sasuke!?" When Naruto looked away sadly, Sakura's stomach dropped. At first she felt like she was going to cry, then she felt like throwing up.

Kakashi and Zabuza continued fighting and spouting out words. Sakura didn't care, though, as she grabbed Tazuna hand and ran as fast as she could, past Naruto and the fight.

"Oh no, you don't."

Sakura heard Naruto yell her name as she felt a hard kick on her lower back and she flew forward, skidding on the ground a few times. Noises of Naruto yelling and shuriken hitting kunai filled her ears. Biting her lip to keeping from making pained noises, she groaned. She stood with trouble and she hurt all over. Either her right arm was dislocated or broken because she couldn't move it.

"SAKURA! Are you okay?!" Naruto yelled running towards her. Tazuna, with small cuts here and there and one big, but not deep, one on his chest, followed.

"Ye-yeah," She said shakily. She turned toward Zabuza, the one that kicked her away. Kakashi and him were staring away from them. Now, both of Zabuza's arm were done with and his sword was lying on the ground behind him. Sakura heard chuckling and noticed the two by her also looked that way.

A short man with a cane and an army behind him. Mean words were said to Zabuza and the man kicked Haku's dead body. That drove Naruto crazy.

"Who the hell do you think are, huh?!" He shouted, running forward. Kakashi stopped him and whispered something in his ear. Naruto nodded and stuck and hand in his pouch. A kunai was produced. Zabuza lowered his head when Naruto put the kunai in his mouth. Sakura didn't know what he was saying, but Zabuza looked like he was thinking over the words.

Then, Zabuza ran. Ran straight towards the old man. The men ran forwards to attack Zabuza, but he took it all. Took it all and swiped the kunai at the men.

So much blood, Sakura's lower lip trembled, and death. With that thought, Zabuza reached Gatou and off with his head. It flew a good few feet away and landed between dead bodies of Gatou's soldiers.

Then, Zabuza fell.

Sakura blinked her eyes, feeling tired and not like herself. She felt... like nothing.

"Sakura?" A hoarse voice behind her, brought her out of the thoughts. Turning around, she noticed Sasuke!

"Sasuke," Sakura said quietly, then shouted, "NARUTO! Sasuke! Sasuke's alive!"

Naruto whipped his head towards her, tears in his eyes.

Sakura took Sasuke's hand using her left. She ran towards Naruto with Sasuke being dragged and Tazuna walking behind. Although her arm hurt really bad and the scrapes and cuts burned from the humid air, Sakura felt happy.


	2. Afterwards

It was during the rest after the fight when Sakura found her arm was just dislocated. Kakashi-sensei set it back, and she bit back a scream. Naruto wrapped it up with bandages and left the room to talk with Sasuke, who was also all bandaged up.

Sakura sat on the floor of the kitchen watching Tsunami wash dishes and listening to the sounds of nature and Sasuke and Naruto fighting about something or other. It felt calm. Too calm for Sakura since what just took place yesterday.

"Sakura," a voice awakened her from her inner ramblings.

"Huh?"

"Are you hungry?" It was Inari and he held up a piece of bread.

"Sure," Sakura smiled and took it with her left hand. She bit into it as Inari stared at her. "Yes?" She asked after chewing and swallowing.

"Does it hurt? Your arm?" He asked, sitting next to Sakura. Placing his feet under the table, he mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"Oh, you don't have to be! You had nothing to do with it," Sakura insisted dropping the half-eaten bread on the table.

"Well, if I was there...."

"That doesn't matter. If's, but's, ect," Sakura laid back, staring at the ceiling. It was silent for a while. Naruto and Sasuke's voices disappeared and Tsunami left the room two minutes ago.

"Sakura..." Inari started, "You've... You've changed."

After that was said, Inari's brow furrowed and he stood, leaving the room.

It was quiet again.

The walk bak to Konoha was weird. Naruto kept quiet which was the most difference than the usual. He kept looking between Sakura and the dreary sky and the bushes and trees. Kakashi took out his orange book, occasionally flipping a page and kept on looking at Sakura and the boys. Sasuke looked like Sasuke, walking cool and collected. Although he looked different with some bandages wrapped around his body.

"Sakura... Um, how's... your arm?" Naruto asked, slowly. It surprised Sakura and she turned to him, smiling.

"Well, it doesn't hurt," Sakura said as she looked into the cloudy sky, "If that's what your talking about."

There was a silence in the air as Naruto looked around uncomfortably. Kakashi sighed at the awkward moment. He started saying, "Good job," but Sasuke interrupted him.

"Naruto, Sakura... You guys are braver than I thought."

"Wow.... Never thought I get complimented by you," Naruto mumbled smiling. He turned to Kakashi and asked, "Aren't you glad we decided to stay?"

"Well, I am surprised at how good you handled the situation," Kakashi replied, closing his book. The looked at his three students and finally got a chance to say good job.

Playing with her hair by pulling it into a pony or curling it, Sakura smiled a little. Inside for the past few days after the fight Sakura has been feeling different. Empty, but full and whole. She couldn't explain why, either.

Why, she asked her self grabbing a headache. The gates of Konoha had appeared. As she looked at them, she smiled happily and that is why she had a headache. Naruto ran up and through the gates smiling and yelling something about Ichiraku. Sasuke just grumbled and followed.

"Sakura tell Naruto and Sasuke you all can go home. Come to the training grounds tomorrow at 9 o'clock. I'll be expecting you," Kakashi waved and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sakura nodded and frowned at the headache that was slowly going away. She ran after Naruto and Sasuke, the former waiting for her at the gate's opening.

"Naruto. We get off today, but tomorrow we meet up at the training grounds at nine. Okay? Tell Sasuke," Sakura noticed that Sasuke already left and she turned back to Naruto, "I'm going home now. See you later."

"Okay!" Naruto yelled running down the street to Ichiraku's. He turned a corner and disappeared.

Sakura walked home in thought. Or no thought. She was spaced out and felt out of place. Nothing really explained this feeling though. Sakura's frown deepened.


	3. Home Again

Sakura woke up panting. Last night she woke up at least five times from similar dreams. There was so much blood and people fighting. And a name kept appearing, but every time she forgot what it was after waking. Stepping out of bed, Sakura frowned.

It was bright out the window. Was it already past nine? She ran to her closet and took out one of her red sleeveless dress shirt and black shorts. She combed her hair and pulled on her headband.

"Bye mom," Sakura yelled as she grabbed a piece of toast and left, running though the front door. She made her way quickly to the training grounds and saw that Naruto and Sasuke were already there. "Am I late?" She frowned again.

"Not really," Naruto said laying around on a tree root. Sasuke sat opposite from him, legs crossed on a rock. "How's your arm, Sakura?"

"I slept on it last night so it kinda hurts, but mostly, all good," Sakura lifted her right arm and shook it a little. "At least I can move it." **Although it hurts...**

"Hn," Sasuke mumbled something or other and Kakashi appeared earlier than usual. Naruto was the only one today to yell at Kakashi for being a liar.

"Hey, hey. Calm down now, Naruto," Kakashi's eye crinkled upwards, "I had to talk to Sandaime Hokage again this morning."

"What for?" Sasuke rarely asked.

"Oh, Sandaime said you guys should get a week out in case of shock and or trauma. Any questions?"

"Awwww! Come on! I want to learn a new jutsu! Please, Kakashi-sensei, can't we make a exception. Sasuke? Sakura? Do you guys have shock.... And or trauma?" Naruto whined and whined then turned to the said two.

"No."

"Nope," Sakura smiled. **Well, how do I know?**

"See!" Naruto grinned.

"Nope, no exceptions, Naruto." And with that Kakashi disappeared. It was silent for a few seconds.

"AW! He probably just wants to read his pervy book!"

"Well, I'm leaving now," Sasuke said, stiffly. And he did as he said, slowly walking out of the field. He stopped for a second, though, and turned back. Expecting something? The he hopped into the trees and disappeared.

"... Hey, Sakura! Wanna go to Ichiraku with me?" Naruto grinned again.

"Yeah, sure," Sakura smiled right back.

They left shoulder to shoulder.

**-x-**

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled. It was the next morning already and the three decided to train each other. And guess what Sasuke does? He out ranks them, trying to be the best and succeeding. Sakura ran up a tree with ease and throws a kunai to cut Naruto out of a trap.

"Naruto don't be so loud," Sasuke groaned. He put a finger to his temple, rubbing the area. He then turned and disappeared once again into the trees.

Sakura smiled, leaving Naruto on the ground tending to his rope burns. She jumped into the next tree, than into the next. Soon she was quite a distance apart. She sat against the tree closest to her once reaching the ground.

Panting, she caught a glimpse of silver and a dozen of shuriken appeared. She jumped up, dodging to the left. All of the shuriken stuck out of the tree right where she just had been.

Since Naruto wouldn't be able to be that stealthy, her mind quickly figured it was Sasuke. The only thing that left her wondering was why did he throw those? What if she didn't make it out quick enough and go hit by most of them.

A flicker of the silver caught her sight again. Strings. They were fastened to the shuriken. Each one popped out of the tree and flew back where they came from. Where Sasuke is.

Sakura quickly leapt into the trees, following Sasuke. He was being easy one her at the moment. So a trap?

"SaSUKE!" Naruto's voice once again whipped through the air. Sakura giggled lightly. If this were real, she couldn't be laughing, so she quickly scolded herself and continued on her way.

She finally ended up in the clearing, Sasuke and a unhappy Naruto already there.

"What happened?" The pinkette asked Naruto. He poked his eyes over at Sasuke, then glanced back at Sasuke.

"He-!"

"He fell for another trap..." Sasuke interrupted him. Sasuke turned to glare at Naruto, "Maybe if you weren't such an idiot, you wouldn't get caught in such easy traps."

"You call easy traps ones that are hidden by genjutsu, under a bush, using clear thread? Easy is like... A rope some stupid guy doesn't notice and trips over it."

"Boys, boys, "Sakura shook her head, smiling softly. She looked into the sky and sighed. "Naruto ou should know as a ninja, things aren't supposed to be easy. And Sasuke... Don't be an ass to Naruto. Even if you are really good, you don't have to gloat and prove it to everyone. Now how about instead of thinking that we are useless, you teach us some new jutsus or fighting styles. That was we won't be a 'burden' or 'weak' the next mission."

Both the boys in the team stared at her for a second, then turned to each other. Naruto gave a pleading smile, always ready for a new jutsu. Sasuke frowned, turning away from him. He closed his eyes and swept a hand through his hair.

"Fine... But only taijutsu," He began with a sigh, "for now."

"Thanks!" Sakura smiled at him, following Naruto's example.

"Yeah, thanks, Sas."

"Idiot..."

**-x-**

Sakura stared up into the groves of her ceiling. She was tired, physically and mentally. Sasuke gave Naruto and her a great workout and stretches. They would run a lap around Konoha together every day to gain speed, he said. It took forever and her legs felt worse than her arm did earlier when they did punch exercises.

She turned in bed, sore, and tried her best to fall asleep.


	4. Dreams

"Sit, sit, my girl," A deep, smooth voice was produced behind Sakura. When she turned, though, she saw nothing.

Well, no person. Alive. Thousands of dead bodies littered the ground and blood was staining everything. Looking at her hands she noticed she, too, was covered in blood. Hopefully not her own, she closed her eyes, turning around.

She sat as the earlier voice told her to and opened her eyes. A man no older than twenty stood before her, staring with bored, violet eyes. He had no pupils, or the whites, just all a deep violet. A cape covered his whole body other than his head, darkness behind in blending in.

"Listen, my girl, do you know who I am?" There was a groan behind Sakura when the voice came out of the male. Turning back around, she saw someone alive. The man appeared next to the person out of the ground, sitting in a squat. He then continued to pull out a small dagger-like object and continually stab it into the stomach of the person.

Sakura screamed as the blood squelched out. The man stood and declared, glaring his purple-filled eyes at her,

"I am ... and you, my child, are my servant. Learn from you mistakes and grow. Grow into what you need to be!"

He disappeared into the ground again while Sakura fell. She slowly lifted her hands to her ears, plugging them and squeezed her eyes shut, tears prickling the corner.

"W-what are you talking about!" Sakura yelled out into the silence. She moved her arms from her ears to lift her body from the ground. Standing quickly, she got dizzy, but shook it off. Opening her eyes once more to the display of death, she saw him.

"What I am talking about about," He turned, looking away, "Is your way of life. At least into the future, my girl."

"... I don't get it!" And the dim light there got dimmer and soon disappeared so there was nothing left. Nothing but herself and the color black.

"Now wake up and begin a new day."

**-x-**

Sakura woke up. She must of fell off the bed because at the moment she was curled up in her blankets on the floor. Dried tears stained her cheeks and she wiped her hands across it subconsciously, wondering what she dreamt about to make her cry.

The death dream, perhaps. The only problem was she usually remembered the bodies and now she didn't see anything.

Stretching and standing, she changed into a pair of her black shorts and a red sleeveless vest shirt. It was going to be hot today and running a lap around Konoha wouldn't help. Placing her headband in her distinct position, she left her room for breakfast.

**-x-**

"H... How much... longer!" Naruto ran side by side with Sakura, panting out his words. Sweat graced both of their features and the body of Sasuke who was ahead of them by twenty feet and gaining.

"We only went half way around, idiot, stop complaining," Sasuke yelled back, his voice slightly wheezing.

"Come on~!" Naruto whined, dropping to the ground.

"Naruto!" Sakura stopped, walking back to him. Sasuke also stopped, but didn't make any effort to go back.

"Get up," He simply said, glaring," You wanted my help, your getting it."

"Well... crap," Naruto sat up, rubbing his head and glaring back. "If I knew it was this boring, maybe I wouldn't of agreed!"

"Then go home, loser."

"Don't be stupid, you two!" Sakura screeched at them. "Just because you hate each other, doesn't mean you can't at least act polite. Now say your sorry, Naruto..."

Naruto frowned when he only heard his name called. _She really does only like the teme, huh?_

"Sasuke..."

This got both of the boys attention. They whipped their heads towards her awkwardly.

"Ah! Whip lash!" Naruto groaned out, holding his neck in a protective manner. Sasuke smirked in a rude manner. Sakura stood there for a second staring at them both.

"You both... Stupid... Rrgh!" She stalked off. "God!"

And then she fell to the ground, unconscious. Both the boys of the team stared in awe for a second.

"Wha-what did you do, teme...?" Naruto grumbled out, staring at her.

"Hn. Nothing, but I should ask you the same thing."

**-x-**

After a few minutes of fighting of who did it or what might be the cause, Sakura woke up. The dream was so... so vivid. She stood, shaking, and brushed the dirt off her clothes.

"Uh... Guys, I-I think I'm going to g-go home," Her voice quivered as she grabbed the attention of the other two cell members.

"Sakura! You're okay!"

"Yes, Naruto... I-I think I just need r-rest."

"...What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrowed. Sakura stared at him in a daze for a few seconds and shook it off.

"I just need more sle-"

"No. Not that. You seem scared," Sasuke now took a step forward, causing her to take a step back. Sakura waved her hands in front of her defensively.

"No, no! Just a nightmare!" And she took off.

"A nightmare?"

**-x-**

Sakura wept on her bed. There was a man in her dream and he killed so many people. Dead bodies piled up all around her. He yelled at her. And yelled and yelled. Sakura was seriously frightened for her life.

As her tears stopped, she looking up at the mirror that was across her bed. Was this the shock? The trauma of seeing Zabuza kill? People dying was part of the ninja lifestyle. Was she too weak?

"Maybe I should just get some rest," She mumbled to herself, hoping she wouldn't dream.

She layed down and closed her eyes, on top of her blankets. An hour later, a scream came from her room.

**-x-**

Sakura looked helplessly around at the gore. All her friends and family. Dead, mutilated, torn apart. Tear started to flow again. She collapsed to her knees.

"You don't want this do you?"

Sakura looked up at the man.

"You don't want to see beloved ones dead, my dear, do you?"

Sakura shook her head, violently and let out a sob.

"Then fight for me! Worship me! I will give you power that you would never think was possible."

The man had a feral grin and his violet eyes crinkled with cheerfulness even with the disgusting scene around him. Sakura shook with fear.

"W-why me!" She cried out, closing her eyes. "I never wanted this!"

A chuckled seeped from the cloaked man.

"Of course not, doll, people don't want this. But they should," Another smile appeared. "I chose you because you chose me."

"No, I didn't!" Sakura sobbed. "I want you to leave me alone."

"Your destiny is already set. You can go with it and be happy, or fight against it and have a misrable, lonely life."

"Please... Just leave me alone," she fell lower to the ground.

Then, a horrible pain flared in her chest.

**-x-**

"Sakura!" Someone burst through the bedroom door. It was Sakura's father. Her mother followed close behind.

Sakura was on the bed still asleep, gripping her chest in agony as some blood seeped out. Her mother basically flipped out and ran out to find if anyone could help. Sakura's father took hold of her, using one hand to put pressure on her mysterious wound and slowly, but surely got her down the stairs. A couple of neighbor's ran in the household to help. Within ten minutes the group safely got her to the hospital.


End file.
